Jonathan Hill, the Commission’s financial services chief, resigned on Saturday, saying that the result of the Brexit referendum made it impossible for him to continue in his post.
“As we move to a new phase, I don’t believe it is right that I should carry on as the British Commissioner as though nothing had happened,” he said in a statement.
Jean-Claude Juncker, the Commission president, said in a statement that he accepted the resignation with “regret.”
“At the beginning of this Commission’s mandate, I wanted the British commissioner to be in charge of financial services, as a sign of my confidence in the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union,” he said. “To my great regret, this situation is now changing.”
Hill will be replaced as of July 15 by Valdis Dombrovskis, the Latvian vice president responsible for the euro, who tweeted: “Priority is to maintain financial stability in markets.”
“The work of the European Union must go on,” Juncker said.
Normally, when a commissioner’s term ends, so does that of their staff. However, it is unclear what will happen to Hill’s cabinet. Hill raised the subject of his resignation a month ago, and at the time was encouraged to stay on, sources said.
Hill said that he came to Brussels “as someone who had campaigned against Britain joining the euro and who was sceptical about Europe. I will leave it certain that, despite its frustrations, our membership was good for our place in the world and good for our economy. But what is done cannot be undone and now we have to get on with making our new relationship with Europe work as well as possible.”
Hill had come under growing pressure from the European Parliament to relinquish his post in the wake of the U.K.’s decision to quit the EU. His job as the financial services commissioner was crucial thanks to the City of London’s role as the EU’s financial center — something that may no longer be the case once Britain leaves.
If London nominates another commissioner, they would have to be approved by the European Parliament, where the atmosphere towards the U.K. is not very favorable. It is also unclear what Commission post any British nominee would receive.
Hill, a longtime Conservative politician and former leader of the House of Lords, was appointed as commissioner in 2014.
Ryan Heath and Fiona Maxwell contributed to this article
This article has been updated with a comment from Dombrovskis and background on Hill’s resignation